Had it been shot on earth, it would hardly have been worth a first glance. Its composition was uninspired and its subject — a rough-surfaced grey rock lying on brownish grey, clumpy soil —was singularly dull. Yet it was a histor ic picture — a color photograph taken on the surface of the moon. The dis tinguished and prolific photographer: Surveyor 1.
To achieve lunar color photography, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists in Pasadena first commanded the mirror mounted above Surveyor's fixed, black-and-white television camera to swivel and tilt until it reflected the proper piece of lunar terrain into the cam...